As Abbott Hits Biden for Releasing Migrants with COVID, White House Asks Why Texas Rejects Funds to Test Them

Gov. Greg Abbott accused the Biden administration Thursday of callously releasing ailing migrants into Texas, prompting the White House to hit back that he's the one putting Texans at risk by blocking federal funds meant to provide them COVID-19 tests.

The volleys reflect an ongoing feud, along with jockeying to avoid blame and to score points on several related fronts: If the pandemic roars back in Texas, is it because of migrants President Joe Biden released or because Abbott ended the state's mask mandate?

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) says he witnessed people crossing the Texas-Mexico border Tuesday and said Mexican drug cartels are flooding the border with women and children to overwhelm the Border Patrol to make it easier to smuggle drugs into the country.

"I'm hot under the collar because, as it turns out, some of the people coming across the border test positive for COVID-19," Abbott said on a conservative talk show on Houston's KTRH-AM. "We've got our own challenges with COVID-19 … only to be challenged with the influx of people coming in from the border who could be increasing the spread of COVID-19. The Biden administration must stop this illegal immigration program they've opened."